💖 HOMILY - JULY 9 💖

First Reading - Hosea 11:1-4,8-9 

Gospel - Matthew 10:7-15

A little child was once asked, "What do you think God is like?"

The child thought for a moment and answered, "I think God is like my father. Even when I'm stubborn or make mistakes, he never stops loving me."

Children often understand profound truths in very simple ways.

That is exactly the image of God we encounter in today's first reading. Through the prophet Hosea, God speaks, not as a distant ruler or a strict judge, but as a loving parent.

"I was the one who taught Ephraim to walk. I took them in my arms. I led them with cords of kindness, with bands of love."

What a touching image.

God remembers teaching His people to walk, lifting them up when they stumbled, feeding them, and caring for them. It is the picture of a parent patiently helping a child take those first uncertain steps.

Yet, like many children who eventually think they no longer need their parents, Israel drifted away from God. They forgot the One who had loved and cared for them from the beginning.

We might expect God to respond with anger.

Instead, we hear one of the most moving passages in the Old Testament.

"My heart recoils within me. My compassion grows warm and tender... I am God and not man."

God's justice is real, but His mercy is even greater. His love is stronger than our failures.

Perhaps that is something many of us need to hear today.

Sometimes we think that after making the same mistakes over and over again, God must be tired of us. We imagine Him waiting to condemn us.

But today's reading tells a different story.

God never stops loving His children. He never gives up on us. He continues calling us back, not with fear, but with love.

That beautiful image prepares us for the Gospel.

Jesus sends out His twelve apostles with a simple mission: "Go and proclaim that the Kingdom of heaven is at hand."

Then He gives them very practical instructions.

Heal the sick.

Raise the dead.

Cleanse lepers.

Drive out demons.

Freely you have received; freely give.

Those words are at the heart of Christian discipleship.

Everything we have is a gift.

Our faith.

Our forgiveness.

Our hope.

Our talents.

Our very lives.

Since we have received everything freely from God, we are called to share freely with others.

Notice, too, that Jesus tells His disciples not to rely on money or possessions. They are to travel simply and trust that God will provide for them through the generosity of others.

Why?

Because Jesus wants them to depend first on God, not on themselves.

That lesson is still important today.

We often place our security in our savings, our plans, or our abilities. While these things have their place, our deepest security must always be in the Lord.

At the end of the Gospel, Jesus tells the disciples that not everyone will welcome them. Some will reject their message.

That must have been difficult to hear.

Yet Jesus does not tell them to become discouraged or angry. He simply tells them to move on.

There is wisdom in that.

As Christians, we are called to witness faithfully, but we cannot force anyone to believe. Our responsibility is to sow the seeds. God takes care of the harvest.

Sometimes we worry too much about results.

Jesus asks us instead to be faithful.

Today's readings fit together beautifully.

In Hosea, we see the heart of God—a Father who never stops loving His children.

In the Gospel, Jesus sends His disciples to make that Father's love visible to the world.

And that mission continues today.

Wherever there is kindness, forgiveness, compassion, encouragement, or hope, the Kingdom of God is being proclaimed.

Dear friends, today's readings leave us with three simple questions.

Do I truly believe that God loves me with the tenderness of a loving Father, even when I fail?

Have I learned to depend more on God than on my own strength?

And how can I freely share with others the love and mercy that I have so freely received?

As we celebrate this Eucharist, let us thank God for His patient and faithful love—a love that has never abandoned us, even when we have wandered far from Him.

May that love change our hearts.

And may we leave this church ready to become messengers of that same love, carrying Christ's peace into our homes, our workplaces, our families, and every person we meet.

For the world does not simply need more words about God.

It needs more people whose lives reveal the tenderness of His heart.